Furniture.



Patented luly 9, I90L G. A. BOWEN.

FURNITURE (Application med Nov. t', 1900.)

(lo Model.)

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NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. BOWEN, OF MEDINA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO S. A. COOK de COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FURNITUR'.

snncrirrcnrron forming para of Letters Patent No. 678,219, atea July' 9, 190i.

Y Application iiled November 1, 1900. Serial No. 353141. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern: g

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Medina, in the county of Orleans and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to furniture of the kind in which one part, such as a back, is hinged to another portion andswings relative thereto and is adjustable from one position to another; andit has for its object to facilitate the separation of the swinging or adjustable part of the article of furniture from the supporting or stationary part; and to that end it consists of improved hinge connections for the parts, which securely hold them together under ordinary circumstances and yet permit their ready separation or disengagement, and also to improvements in the means for holding the swinging part of the article in the different positions to which it is adjusted, whereby the parts ofk such holding means may bev separated without remov-` ing them from the parts to which they are secured.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to a chair, though I do not intend thereby to be understood as limiting my invention in its useful applications to that particular article seat-frame portion of a chair, and B the swinging back thereof. The back is hinged to the frame by a detachable hinge or connecting means, which forms one part of my invention. The back is represented as being tle 6, is secured to one of the side bars b of the back, and the pintle or stud of this plate is adapted to enter the socket 4 and turn therein. The opposite socket-piece 3 is provided with a recess 7, adapted to receive a stud or pin 8, extending outward from a plate 9, carried by one of the side bars b of the back. The studs 6 and 8 are in line axially with each other and constitute trunnions, which turn in the recesses 4 and 7 .l The recess 7 is open on one side, as represented at 10, where there is a slot, through which the stud or pin 8 enters and passes out of the recess. Directly beyond or in front of this slot the stationary hinge-plate 3 is provided with a shelf or ange 1l, which is preferably iiush with the bottom wall of the socket 7. I prefer that the opening lO into the socket 7 should be toward the rear and that the stud or pin 8 should be of a greater dimension in one direction than in the other, both of these features being represented in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that if the back of the'chair be `swung backward into a substantially horizontal position, as represented inFig. 4, the stud or pin 8 may be easily moved into and out of its socket 7, the

smaller or attened portion of the stud passing easily through the slot or entrance-passage lO into the socket and the back during such entrance or withdrawal of the hinge-pin 8 swinging horizontally upon the other pin or trunnion 6. The flange l1 constitutes a shelf upon which the trunnion or pin 8rests and over which it moves during the operation of inserting the said pin into its socket or seat 7. This shelf serves to direct the course of the pin, so that it accurately enters the recess, even though the width of the slot 10 be but very little more than the cross-diameter of the pin 8 in its flattened or narrow part, and it also serves as a support for the end or side of the chair-back opposite the side carrying the pin 6 during the operation of bringing together or separating the hinged parts. This llatter function results from the shelf or flange Il extending laterallybeyond any overhanging portion or Wall of the socket or of the entrance-slot into the socket. In order to unite the hinging parts of the back, the latter is placed in the horizontal position rep- VIce resented in Fig. 4 and the stud or pin 6 inserted axially into its socket in the plate 2. The pin or trunnion Sis then brought to bear upon the shelf l1, when the parts may be readily carried into proper hinging positions by merely swinging the back horizontally upon the pin 6 until the pin 8 by lateral movement fully enters its socket or seat 7. The back is then swung upward upon its hinges to the ordinary positions of use, and as soon as it passes from the substantially horizontal position the hinged parts are locked together, as the eccentric shape of the trunnion 8 relative to its seat or socket and the entrance thereto prevents separation of the parts eX- cept when brought into a predetermined position.

I have represented the chair which is illustrated in the drawings as being provided with a form of catch or ratchet and swinging pawl engaging therewith for holding the back in the various positions to which it may be desired to adjust it, which constitutes the subject-matter of my Patent No. 667,162, dated January 29, 1901, and which, therefore, I do not herein claim except as to those particular features pointed out in the claims hereof. The back is provided with a swinging pawl C, which is pivoted to one of the side framepieces of the back, and is provided with a laterally-extendin g pin c. The stationary frame is provided with the ratchet, which comprises an attaching-plate D, which is formed with a circumferential flange d and a dividing-rib d', provided upon one face with a series of ratchetteeth, with which the pin of the swinging pawl engages. Between the parting or separating rib d and the circumferential flange d of the ratchet device there are two ways or tracks, connected at their ends, in which the pin of the swinging pawl travels. These features of the means for holding the back in different positions are fully set forth in my said patent and need not be described more in detail herein. In order to permit the pin of the swinging pawl to pass out of the tracks or ways in which it travels, and thus provide for the easy separation of these parts without necessitating the removal of either the swinging pawl or the ratchet, I provide the circumferential liange with a slot or passageway 12, .through which the pin may be passed when it is desired to separate these parts or, being separated, to bring them together in operative relations. This slot 12 is preferably arranged in the upper portion of the circumferential flange, so that, in the first place, the pin shall never escape therefrom accidentally, and, in the second place, to provide an arrangement whereby the pin will be caused to automatically enter the ways in the ratchet after the hinged parts have been brought together and the back is swung toward its normal position of use. As clearly represented in the drawings, the ratchet occupies an inclined position, its rearwardr end When the hinged parts being the lower.

have been brought together in the manner hereinbefore described and the back is swung upward from its substantially horizontal position toward the position it normally occupies when in use, the swinging pawl hangs loosely and the position of the ratchet relative thereto is such that the pin c of the pawl engages with the outer upper face of the circumferential flange d and rides upward and forward thereon until it reaches the recess 12, through which it drops by gravity into engagement with the ratcheted or separating parting-strip d. It will thus be seen that no attention whatever need be given to bringing the back adjusting and holding means into operative relation when the back or swinging part of the article of furniture is being applied to the stationary portion thereof, but that these parts automatically come into operative engagement as the swinging part is being carried upward into the position for use.

Having described iny invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

l. The combination with a swinging part or member of an article of furniture, or the like, of separable hinge connections therefor, comprising a closed socket and a pin adapted to enter the socket axially and turn therein, and another pin, axial in line with the firstnamed pin and of reduced diameter in one direction, and a socket in which the last said pin is adapted to turn, the socket being provided with an opening of asize to permit the pin to pass laterally into the said socket, when its least diameter is presented thereto, and when the swinging member of the article is moved into an unusual position, substantially as set forth.

2. rIhe combination with a swinging part or member of an article of furniture, or the' like, of the hinge connections therefor, comprising a pin 6 yand a closed socket or recess 4 in which the pin is adapted to be seated and turned, and of ashape to permit the pin to enter the socket freely in an axial direction, and'another pin 8 arranged in axial line with vthe said pin 6, the pin 8 being reduced in diameter in one direction, and a socket 7 in which the pin 8 is adapted to be seated and to turn, the said socket being provided upon one side with an opening 10 through which the reduced portion of the pin 8 may pass laterally, substantially as set forth.

3. A hinge connection for furniture, and the like, comprising a socket and pin adapted to turn therein combined with one part of a swinging member of the article, a pin and a socket inwhich the pin turns combined with another part of the said swinging member, the last said socket having an opening through which the pin may pass, and a flange or shelf arranged in proximity to the opening to the last-mentioned socket and extending laterally beyond any overhanging portion or Wall of the socket or of the entrance into the IOO socket, and upon which shelf the pin may rest before entering the opening to the socket, substantially as set forth.

4. A detachable hinge connection for furniture and the like, comprising, in combination with a swinging member of the article to which it is applied, a pin or trunnion 8 of reduced diameter in one direction, a socket in Which the said pin or trunnion rests and turns formed with an opening through which the pin may pass when moved into acertain determined position, and a flange or shelf 1l, arranged opposite to the said opening to the socket, and substantially ush With the bottom thereof, whereby the pin may easily slide through the opening, and from the shelf'to the socket, and vice versa, When the pin is moved into proper` position, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination With the frame of an article of furniture, a swinging member thereof, and hinging parts uniting them, of a ratchet and paWl engaging with the said relatively movable parts for holding the swinging member in different positions, the said ratchet comprising an attaching-plate, a rack with which the paWl engages, and a circumferential flange surrounding the rack and spaced therefrom, whereby a Way is formed entirely around the rack in which Way the paWl is arranged to move, the said liange being slotted at one point to permit the separation of the paWl, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with the frame of an article of furniture, a swinging member thereof, and hinging parts uniting them, of aswinging pawl having a laterally-proj ectin g pin and a ratchet with which the pin engages, these parts being arranged to hold the swinging member in different positions, and the ratchet being inclined downward and comprising an attaching-plate, a rack with which the pin of the pawl engages, and a circumferentialfiange surrounding the rack and spaced therefrom and arranged to inclose a Way in Which the pin of the paWl moves, the flange being slotted on its upper side at 12 to permit the passage of the pin of the pawl into the Way of the ratchet, substantially as set forth.

.GEORGE A. BOWEN.

Witnesses: y

CARL H. BREED, HARRY F. NELSON. 

